What went on here in Washington seemed to bear little relation to the storms raging outside.

Ministers met and proclaimed their achievements, even as stock markets collapsed.

Banks held lavish cocktail parties costing up to $200,000 a time while their executives at home tried to work out if they were still solvent.

In his assessment, it was not surprising that the president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, was restrained in his optimism.

''I come away from these meetings with a sense of hope and a sense that quite a lot has been achieved,'' he said.

''I think we have focused in through the remarks of the governors and through the dialogues that we've had on a practical and pragmatic assessment of this crisis.''

The crisis has been assessed, but no clear plan of action has emerged.

The great disappointment for many has been the apparent impotence of the Group of Seven industrial nations.

There was a time when they would decide what needed to be done, do it, and the rest would follow.

Today they have no control over the waves of unexpected crises that are now starting to crash against their shores.

They have many long-term plans, but few short-term defences.